Why Us?

WHY US? We are a family owned and operated generational company, this business is in our blood.

In 1895, the company was founded as Rosen Food Brokerage Company.

In 1966, Rosen hired a street smart salesman named Louis D. O’Brien as a sales manager. Louis had many years of experience in the front lines as a former Colonial bread driver and manager. By 1969, Louis was named partner of the Brokerage Company and Rosen/Biermann/O’Brien Brokerage Company was formed. Then in 1977 the Rosen family was bought out of ownership and the firm became Biermann/O’Brien. Then in 1983 Louis’s partner Tom Biermann was in a fatal accident and the firm was bought out by Louis for sole ownership. We are now in our 33rd year of being an O’Brien owned and operated firm.

At O’Brien & Associates we value relationships. Relationships with our client base, relationships with our customer base and relationships with our employees. In the age of the computer we still rely on old fashioned face time or actually picking up the phone to communicate with our partners. We believe in our methods and we try to keep this industry as simple as possible.

Louis O'Brien

OWNER & PRINCIPAL

Lou is an institution in St. Louis with several decades of grocery experience.

Timothy O'Brien

VICE PRESIDENT

Tim is 3rd generation and grew up within the industry. He previously worked in Finance/Accounting for a large Fortune 500 company and is now responsible for sales, accounting and new business development.

Patricia O'Brien

PRESIDENT

Patricia is 2nd generation and a 30+ year veteran of the industry. She has served in many different capacities here at O'Brien & Associates and knows our process inside and out. She can walk you through just about anything when it comes to the food business.

Fred Kurtz

MERCHANDISING SUPERVISOR

Fred (aka "Shelf Whisperer") is a 20+ year veteran of the industry and has also wore many hats here at O'Brien. Fred is our go to guy for figuring out what needs to be done at store level on all things merchandising.